the rain is falling right now. you ca see traffic pretty still right there on the bridge and this wet wednesday is only going to get worse. don't blame the messengers, though, right? some heavy rain on the way. >> i'm blaming you. the latest round of severe weather also comes with a side of warmer temps. let's talk to our meteorologist jeremy reiner to get it all straightened out for us. >> adam, yesterday at this time we were talking about the threat of snow and freezing rain. but now this will just be rain with heavier downpours, as well, back through portions of central new england, even a band marching through the metro within the last 45 minutes. that has backed off a little bit. around metro boston some lighter showers but as you head farther west, you notice all this deep shading of the green, yellow and orange and even a little red. those are the downpours that we'll have on and off during the evening commute. this is going to be the main portion of our storm system. again, the front end of the storm last evening featured a little bit of winter precipitation, but the storm out

warm air up the eastern seaboard. it's so kind of cool and raw right now. but once this warm front comes through later on this evening, the temps and humidity will jump into the 50s. right now 30s and 40s. boston 41. worcester 32. fitchburg at 34. your storm timeline, again, we have the showers and the downpours, continuing through the evening hours. and i think it'll pick up in intensity again around midnight tonight up until about 5:00 or 6:00 tomorrow morning. and the add concern is that when it does warm up and then you have the second batch of heavy rain come in, then there may be some strong gusty winds. we may see winds gusting at times late tonight and tomorrow morning between 40 and 45 miles per hour. there's waned advisory in affect tonight and tomorrow for all of eastern new england with that wind continuing through the day tomorrow. the rain will shut down quickly tomorrow morning by 7:00 a.m. and then we've got a warm day. we'll talk more about that and the rest of your forecast in a few minutes. and you can track the storm as it moves through new england with our live interactive radar. head over to the weather section of whdh.com and you can also get

bleat apps. still ahead, people all across the south are cleaning up following a night of nasty and deadly weather. tornadoes hitting florida, alabama, louisiana, we'll have more on the southern storms coming up in just about 6 minutes. >> we are also following breaking news. wynn casinos pumping the brakes on the planned casino in everett. right now the renderings will just remain a dream developers have stopped construction. >> this comes as a war of words starts to play off. jonathan hall in everett has got all the breaking details to help us understand what's going on here, jonathan. >> well, one day there may be someone standing right here blowing on some dice like there's supposed to be a five star casino here on this spot on the banks of the mystic river in a couple of years. city of boston has dropped its opposition but the project still has one enemy who won't give up. >> reporter: everett's mayor

counterpart across the river in somerville. >> i tell my friend joe, it's time, it's time forget the appeal. >> reorter: and a call for action to this large crowd of casino supporters. >> inundate his phone. i know a lot of you personally have his number. email him, go on his facebook page. convince him that what he's doing is wrong. >> reporter: somerville mayor joe kurtatone is proposing a new proposal for the casino that than six months. >> we going to cancel the ground breaking ceremony that was scheduled for this april. >> reporter: this had the feel of a political rally. >> when everett will be a powerful -- wynn everett will be a powerful economic union. >> we want to go to work. enough with the delays, enough with lawsuits. >> reporter: the mayor has warned people this will get ugly and wynn could get vicious.

about that. >> we never go personal and vicious. this is all about our business, this is about bringing this resort to everett and we are tremendous operators. no, this is clearly not about that at all. >> and wynn everett's president told me he's happy to sit down with the mayor at anytime, has tried to reach out to him, but won't renegotiate the financial deal that somerville will get each and every year. went to arbitration and get $650,000, he wants more like $1.5 million. but again, he says it's about air quality, not about money. live in everett, jonathan hall, 7news. also following breaking news out of holbrooke, police say judith sales has been found. the holbrooke mom had been missing for almost two days. she is alive. police say she never showed up to pick up her son monday afternoon. according to detectives, they say that she was found at the crystal mall in waterford

again, unharmed. a cambridge police officer on administrative leave has been cited after allegedly hitting a cyclist and driving away from the scene. police say the 28-year-old officer was off duty at the time this alleged hit and run on sunday night. the woman was rushed to the hospital and has since been released. police were investigating a teen tragedy today. a 15-year-old killed after being hit by a car in randolph. laura vieira was from east boston, struck by a car while randolph. it was around 8:00 last night. crews rushed her to a local hospital where she was later pronounced dead. police say she was in the crosswalk when she was hit but the driver did have a green light. they say that driver, a 21-year-old randolph man, stayed at the scene and cooperative. investigators now working to determine if last night's snow and weather might have played a part in the accident. >> what we believe so far is that the driver of the vehicle did stop and make himself known to police and gave a statement.

the crosswalk at the time and also the driver had a green light and he was going forward. it was snowing heavily at the time of the accident last night. >> police believe the victim was in randolph visiting friends, no charges have been filed. >> and now back to the wild weather that rocked the south. we talked a little bit about it earlier, left a path of destruction across florida, alabama and louisiana. at least three people were killed, dozens have been injured. nbc's charisma loan has the very latest. >> reporter: a powerful storm system is sweeping across the southeast spawning tornadoes from louisiana to florida. in convent louisiana where 150 trailers were reduced to rubble. >> this was probably the worst area that the doornld hit. >> reporter: a populated neighborhood in east pennsylvania took a direct hit. >> we nearly didn't make to the bottom floor and started hearing

we're fortunate to be alive. >> reporter: more than a dozen tornadoes were reported across the region, flattening homes, overturning semitrucks and ripping apart brick buildings. >> it was so scary. i just -- it was just unreal watching things fly around in your house. you didn't know what was gonna happen. >> reporter: the indiscriminate nature of stoonders tough to predict. their destructive nature hard to comprehend, even among public officials who have seen it all before. >> tornadoes have a mind of their own. they'll jump over housing areas or jump over the house that you're in to destroy the house next door. and so that's what this disoornld. >> a night of terror for those in the storm's path with more tornadoes possible as the system pushes east and up into the mid atlantic region. chris pal loan, nbc news. a concern in the fight against the zika virus. the cdc is investigating 14 new cases in the thank you may have been sexually transmitted.

only a strong number of patients had contracted zika through sexual contact. experts are working to learn how long it can remain active in the person's system and still be transmitted. they say in the 14 new cases, the men got sick first. >> in each of the episodes, a man was traveling to a zika-effected area, developed systems that were consistent with zika. and within two weeks of the man east symptoms, the female partner developed symptoms consistent went zika virus. >> now, the cdc is urging all men who have been to zika zika-affected areas to abstain from sex when they return to the u.s., or use protection, especially if their partner is pregnant. the democrats are focused on south carolina while the republicans have already set their sights on super tuesday. donald trump riding high after picking up yet another big win last night.

from the campaign trail. >> reporter: donald trump embraced today by evangelical icon pat robertson. after trump took the evangelical vote last night in his landslide win in nevada, he sent a message to his cuban-american rivals. >> 46% hispanics. >> reporter: rubio claimed today he can still win. >> if it came down to me and donald trump, i'd beat him by almost 16 points. >> reporter: but cruz is not quitting, nor is john kasich. >> forget about it. forget about if. >> reporter: six days away is super tuesday. donald trump leading in 10 states and focusing on texas. recruits today won the endorsement of texas governor. trump played his family card. don junior saying the voice grew up with billions but trump values. >> education, family, work ethic, all of these things that

similar fortune. >> reporter: mrs. trump said... >> he treats me the same as men. in south carolina democratic hillary clinton is looking for another win. bernie sanders figures he can win four or more super tuesday primaries. there are states we're gonna lose, but the race goes on, and this is a race. >> reporter: a great upset says sanders is still possible. >> so much is on the line in both parties. it's all out now until tuesday. i'm steve handlesman, nbc news, washington. also on 7news at 4:00, apple says its phone fight with the fbi should be decided by congress, not the courts. the tech giant will ask a federal judge to put the issue of accessing a locked iphone in lawmakers' hands. government officials say their request would apply only to the phone used by syed farouk, one of the san bernardino terrorists. apple says it would be an unprecedented breach of customer privacy and could have international implications.

history trade at the state house. governor backer and other politicians honoring leaders in the african-american community, both past and present. the ceremony honored educators and former black city councilors. governor baker spoke about the rich black history in the commonwealth and how important it is still today. >> those who forget hissry are doomed to repeat its mistakes. history matters, and black history here in the commonwealth matters a great deal. don't ever forget that. >> speakers also stress the importance of black history not just during february, but every month out of the year. still ahead here at 4:00 p.m., boston dynamics showing off gets new robot. what makes this one so much better.

good news but not everyone is on board. the story of survival, a puppy shot nearly 20 times with a bb gun. but the senseless crime is bringing a community together. >> and on 7news at 5:00, a pair of some pretty hot pants, the malfunction that caused a man's pants to explode into flames. okay, that's all coming up next on 7news.

the state is trying to breed and move dozens of endangered rattlesnakes to a reservoir. >> but some people say they aren't really sold on this idea. >> reporter: the idea of the creating an island of rattle snakes for some is a nightmare. the department of wildlife is trying to convince people it's endangered and must be saved.

rattle snakes with the help of roger williams zoo in providence and then put them on this island in the reservoir and after 10 years, hopefully the snakes will be able to sustain themselves, but the project has rattled some nerves. >> why spend money on poisonous snakes. >> reporter: there is some concern about costs and that the snakes, which are good swimmers can find themselves on the mainland. >> it doesn't bother me at all. i just think it's a waste of money. >> reporter: dr. french says for the first decade, they'll have transmitters and mostly grants >> it's all about dwirts. >> reporter: for some who live along the reservoir, they say they'd much rather have a remote island of timber rattle snakes >> extinct is forever. snakes in. i think it's a wonderful idea. >> the program is already well underway with the snakes already hatched at the sool said to be

they're 2 next winter. susan tran, 7news. we have rain on the way for overnight tonight and early tomorrow morning. forecast up next. >> plus, he's been fighting with this case for four decades. the kennedy cousin back in back to prison? we'll have the details. and a suspect in a dangerous drive falls on his face right there, hard fall. he's now facing serious charges. we'll explain more there. and we're staying on top breaking news coming out of connecticut where a missing mother from holbrooke has been found and is alive. judith sales was last seen leaving her job in taunton on monday but located this afternoon. we'll have a live report ahead at i'm hillary clinton and i approve this message. her life's work has been about breaking barriers. and so would her presidency. which is why, for every american who's not being paid what they're worth... who's held back by student debt or a system tilted against them- and there are far too many of you- she understands that our

potential... unless we all do. together.

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of hanging out there. amazing. you can see it kind of stumbles and catches itself after falling in the snow and inside, he or she picks up boxes and nets knocked down and uses its arms to get up. boston dynamics say it's its first real robot and hopes to use it to build even better robots. and it can stack things, lift them up and put them back down. i am really amazed. i was gonna say it looks just like the storm troopers out of the sci-fi shows. jr wouldn't know anything about that. >> there are some days where i've looked like that having a bit of a pub crawl the previous night.

early tomorrow morning. wind elate tonight. that is a concern late tonight as well as through the day tomorrow. there is a wind advisory in affect. and then things will settle down as we work into the weekend. right now doppler radar showing lighter showers in and around metro boston. a burst 45 minutes to an hour or so where we had some steady rain but now it's stepped back a little bit and heavier pockets of rain back into the worcester hills. the concern out here is that the cold air, it's stubborn to leave, stuff to scour out the cold air this time of year. there may be some pockets of freezing rain happening as well at about 1,000 feet, otherwise, temps are safely above 32 degrees. about 3/4 of an inch in some locations.

they have been moving upward. half that path west of new england we end up on the warm side of the storm. there's not gonna be any concern of winter precipitation overnight tonight. it will actually warm up as we work through the latter half of this evening and overnight tonight. look at the amount of severe weather that we have seen with this storm system going back to yesterday. numerous reports of tornadoes as well as mail and wind damage too. 176 reports of wind damage. so as this weather system moves up into new england i'm not anticipating severe weather, certainly not tornadoes. but i do think there's gonna be some leftover wind energy with the storm. we'll have showers and downpours late tonight.

we'll start to notice the winds gust out of the south between 20 and 30 miles per hour and through the day tomorrow. an early shower and then partly sunny skies. windy and warm. temps tomorrow morning, upper 50s. tomorrow afternoon they head for the upper 40s. >> all right, jeremy, thanks so much. now let's get a check of the roads. joe stapleton has our fast track traffic and the zakim bridge looks pretty jammed you're heading into the city. >> that's right, 93 southbound right now making their way down to the o'neill tunnel. it stays heavy right down on to the expressway. we've been ranching close to an hour ride right down into braintree. 93 northbound on the right-hand side of the screen, it's moving along nicely at this point and not too bad after 128. that's run being a half-hour or so to 128 in woburn. we have the brake lights on here 128 southbound down through the waltham area. pike westbound heavily congested

framingham and route 1 on the brakes here in saugus staying slow heading up to 128. joe stapleton, 7news. have to admit i was thrilled to hear this today. south end favorite back in business today. >> i'll have to ask you later what your favorite meal is from there. charlie's sandwich shop celebrating its grand re-opening after closing its doors back in 2014. leaders around the city and state turning out for the ribbon cutting and re-opening of the landmark restaurant. charlie's was open for 87 years before closing a year and a half ago, and the new owner of the restaurant says he's keeping the menu exactly the same. next on 7news, bruised and battered but alive. a teen in virginia gets hit and dragged by a train. how he managed to use his cell phone to call his father for help. plus, up for debate, a middle school facing controversy over a plan to macon domes available to young students. and we're staying on top of breaking news. wynn casino stopping, halting construction in everett, sparking a war of words with the local mayor.

mother has been found alive in connecticut after disappearing on monday. we'll have the details. we're living in a very competitive global economy, and if we are going to succeed, we need the best-educated workforce in the world. we should be making public colleges and universities tuition-free. we're going to pay for it with a tax on wall street speculation. the taxpayers of this country bailed out wall street. it is time for them to start helping the middle class of this country. i'm bernie sanders

another dose of winter weather. more rain headed our way as the system that pounded the south is now target us. so the system, and we mentioned this, wanted to make it very clear, it's not going to do any sort of damage like that did south south which we'll be talking about later but we will get soaked. >> bucket its of rain is what i've heard today. jeremy reiner joins us to break all of this down for us and when that will hit us here yes, we had a heavier burst of rain about an hour ago. >> this essentially become as spring-like storm for the remainder of the event. the main event parked over the